


truce

by ladymedraut



Series: plantagenet university [2]
Category: 15th Century CE RPF, Richard III - Shakespeare, The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Humor, and much fluff, pillow forts and sing-alongs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22780999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymedraut/pseuds/ladymedraut
Summary: A short vignette in which Richard owns bunny slippers and everyone miraculously manages to get along for five minutes.Set the year after "Debt."
Relationships: Anne Neville Queen of England/Richard III of England
Series: plantagenet university [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637776
Kudos: 25





	truce

By a unanimous decision of the inhabitants of Room 1471, the fort had made a reemergence for finals week, and it was truly a work of wonder. A palace of pillows and blankets, complete with turrets made out of bed frames, a fully stocked larder of snack food, and enough power strips to run a small army—not to mention a vast array of string lights tacked up to the ceiling sheet with clothespins in a move that definitely went against fire code—made this fort even more elaborate than the last one they had thrown up during midterms.

It wasn’t exactly shocking that such a masterpiece was to be found in Room 1471. Out of the four roommates who lived there, one was an engineering major and two were theater majors, all of whom had various experiences building ridiculous things. The fourth roommate was pre-law, who was more useful when it came to arguing with the fire department than actually building anything.

The fort had gotten a decent amount of use during reading period, but now that finals had started, it was just Richard and Anne, curled up together watching Disney movies. In Richard’s defense, his theater classes had had performance-based finals and he had turned in his final history essay that morning. Anne’s environmental sciences final was the next day, but she’d spent all day studying and had an A in the class, so she wasn’t really worried about it. They could both afford to spend the evening doing nothing particularly productive.

Richard was singing along to “I Can Go the Distance” in something acceptably close to the actual key—especially considering that he was lying on his side on a pile of pillows with one arm draped over Anne’s shoulders—and Anne was halfway through their bowl of popcorn when they heard the knock.

“Damn,” Richard grumbled, reaching over Anne to pause the movie and reluctantly dragging himself out of the fort.

“Ah yes, an RA’s work is never done,” Anne laughed as he opened the door.

“No, I will not be buying more candy this term—you cretins _do_ realize that I have to eat too, don’t you?—and if there are no more condoms left it’s your own damn fault, go ask Buckingham for more, we all know he has like ten boxes of them. Goodbye and bad luck on your finals,” he said to the hapless soul standing outside, already starting to close the door again before he actually registered who was there.

“Um, I was actually wondering if you had any advil. I’m sorry to bother you, I just have a huge English paper due tomorrow…” Henry Lancaster sounded like he was on the brink of tears.

“Yeah, yeah, come in, I’ll go grab some.” It was a fair assumption that out of all the people on their floor, Richard was the one who would have a supply of pain meds on hand. His back always seemed to flare up during exam season.

Henry was standing in the common room, staring in awe at the pillow fort when Richard returned with the advil from from the room he shared with Francis. “Here you go. Good luck with your essay.” Henry was looking at him like he’d grown an extra head. Was he really so terrible to his residents that a little act of kindness made him unrecognizable?

“Nice fort,” Henry said as he backed towards the door, clutching his advil bottle.

Just as he was about to leave, Anne stuck her head out of the blankets. “Henry! How’s it going?”

“Hanging in there,” he said with a thin smile.

“You want to watch Hercules with us? Richard and I are marathoning Disney movies, you’re welcome to stick around and sing along.”

“I—I should probably go work on my paper,” Henry stammered, glancing over at a Richard who looked much less imposing than he usually did dressed in a giant fuzzy blue bathrobe and theater department sweatpants.

“Is that the religion and lit thing you’ve been working on since reading period started?” Henry nodded. “Come on, take a break.” Anne patted the pillows next to her.

“I’ll go make some more popcorn,” Richard sighed. He returned with three more bowls, and Henry murmured his thanks. They sat together in awkward silence until Anne elbowed Richard in the ribs.

“You know, you can still sing with Henry here.”

“But—”

“Come one. _If there’s a price for rotten judgment, I guess I’ve already won that_...” she started singing.

“ _Who d’you think you’re kidding, he’s the earth and heaven to you_ ,” Henry chimed in softly, his voice growing stronger as Anne smiled at him. “ _We know how you’re feeling…_ ”

Richard let out a sigh. “ _No chance, no way, I won’t say it no, no,_ ” he sang, rolling his eyes and putting an arm around Anne’s shoulder.

And so it went for the rest of the song, Henry belting the chorus while Anne and Richard traded off Meg’s lines. By the end of the number, all three were grinning at each other, nestled together against the upturned sofa that made the main fort wall. They stayed that way for the rest of the movie.

“Thanks,” Henry said as the credits started to roll. “I needed that.”

“We’re doing Mulan next, if you want to stick around,” Richard offered as there was another knock on his door. “Anne, can you pull it up? I’ll be back in a sec.”

Richard put on his best resting bitch face, hoping to counteract the fact that he was currently wearing the bunny slippers Anne had jokingly gotten him for his birthday. At least they were technically Killer Rabbit slippers. “I am not your personal supply of candy and condoms,” he growled as he opened the door, but before he could launch into his rant, a frantic Margaret d’Anjou cut him short.

“Have you seen Henry? He’s not in his room and I’ve tried calling him—”

“Henry!” Richard called back into the common room. “It’s your girlfriend. And Will Suffolk.”

“He’s here?” Margaret said incredulously, barging into the room with Suffolk a step behind her. “Henry! What were you thinking?”

“I’m fine,” Henry said, crawling out of the fort. “I asked Richard for some advil and Anne invited me to stay and watch a movie.”

“I’m starting Mulan in five minutes!” Anne called out from inside the fort. “You all can join me or not!”

Suffolk turned to Richard with a look of wonder on his face. “You’re watching… Disney movies?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” Richard shot back, crossing his arms over his chest. Whatever argument they were about to have was interrupted by Margaret loudly telling Henry that he couldn’t stay and watch Mulan with them.

“It’s after nine, Henry. You have a paper due tomorrow, and you haven’t been feeling well all week. Let’s go back—”

“I’m almost done with that paper though, I just have the conclusion and citations left,” Henry protested. “And I’m actually kind of having fun.” Margaret didn’t have a good comeback for that.

And so Margaret and Suffolk joined them in the fort, sitting as far away from Richard as possible. But by the time they got to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” the whole company was singing along together. Margaret had her head on Suffolk’s shoulder and an arm around Henry, who was sharing a bowl of popcorn with Anne, whose head was in Richard’s lap. It was the first time in floor memory that Margaret and Richard had gone more than an hour without cursing each other.

As the avalanche swept down the mountainside, burying the Huns, Richard’s roommates staggered in from their finals.

“Is that Mulan?” Francis Lovell said as he opened the door.

“Yessss!” Will Catesby yelled, diving into the fort. “I love this movie!”

Dick Ratcliffe was the one who remembered that they had ice cream in the fridge and recruited Francis and Will into helping make sundaes for the whole group. Richard muttered some vague threats about disembowelment if any fudge ended up on his pillows, but his entire fierce RA reputation was well and truly shattered. Half his residents had seen him singing “A Girl Worth Fighting For” to Anne. He was fairly certain he’d heard Margaret call him adorable.

Well, he might as well make his shame complete. He managed to find his phone and pulled up the group chat he had with his brothers. _Yo movie night at my place. Moana starting in 15, bring your own pillows._

Edmund showed up so quickly, Richard was half convinced he’d been lurking outside waiting for an invitation. George staggered in a few minutes later, drunk as usual, but he had Isabel with him. A few minutes before Mulan ended, Edward and Elizabeth barged in with Will Hastings trailing behind them, carrying several boxes of pizza they’d probably stolen from Edward’s frat.

There were now some thirteen people crowded into a fort that was definitely only meant for four or five, jockeying for position to see the tiny laptop screen. Elizabeth suggested they move to the common room down the hall, but the majority of the group voiced their loud disapproval.

And so Anne pulled up Moana, the three Wills went to go pop the last of the popcorn, and everyone squished in closer. As the opening notes of the movie played, Richard glanced down at Anne. She was curled up with her head on his chest, grinning up at him.

_What?_ he mouthed.

_Look,_ she mouthed back.

Richard took a moment to glance around the fort. Thank god no one was claustrophobic. Isabel was next to her sister, George asleep on her shoulder. Edmund and Will Suffolk were sitting shoulder to shoulder, squabbling quietly over a bowl of popcorn until Elizabeth glared at them both and took the entire bowl for herself. Edward, easily the tallest person in the fort, had his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms around Elizabeth and Will Hastings. Francis, Dick, and Will Catesby had one blanket wrapped around the three of them, as well as – was that really Margaret d’Anjou sharing the blanket with them? Richard would have been more shocked if he hadn’t realized he had an arm around Henry.

“Are we going to go back to hating each other in the morning?” Henry murmured.

“I hope not,” Richard said, and he found that he meant it.


End file.
